Welcome to 109
The visual culture magazine for Birmingham
This magazine strives to find visual culture happening in Birmingham. We also look at how the visual elements make up the city –
whether this comes in the form of architecture, signs, typography,
colour or whether social conditions effect the visual appearance of
Birmingham. Why ‘109’’? Its the pantone colour of the famous
Selfridges department stores, whose building gives a distinct
visual look to Birmingham
The architecture in the city creates a dynamic visual appearance;
most specifically how the classic and historic buildings conflict
with the modern and contemporary architecture, creating a visual
tension between the two. We look at various ‘tensions’ and how
architecture can impact us and we ask what people think of the
revitalisation projects happening in Birmingham.
Also featuring are the buildings that inspired J.R.R Tolkien in
Birmingham whilst he was writing The Lord of the Rings, some
interesting facts about the Bullring and we look at concrete, as well
as our guide to what’s on in the city.

contents

what’s on
Nedko Solakov- All in order, with exceptions.
21st September - 13th November
Autumn Almanac - Various exhibitions.
17th - 20th November

My Generation : The glory years of brit rock The Public
Carillon shadows by Jony Easterby
Bandwidth by Josh Nimoy
All 21st October - 15th January
Contemporary crafts fair Midlands
19th November - 18th December Art Center
Small print: Big impression
22nd October - 4th December
The greatest movie ever sold
11-13 November

Nedko Solakov All in order, with exceptions.
Solakov’s exhibition features one piece of work from the
last 30 years being selected from his vast body of work.
Solakov’s work is very highly personal and this, combined
with the vast time the exhibition covers creates a visual
autobiography of his life. Solakov’s work is narrative in its
nature and has a melancholic sense of humour that is prevalent throughout.

tension
Through photography we explore how
this visual tension appears in the city,
we wanted to be able to show how this
creates a dynamic city and that the
contrast between the buildings helps to
create the visual appearance of Birmingham. The revitalisation of the city
sees the creation of modern
architecture but also sees the
restoration of older buildings. The Ikon
for example combines both these
elements; a restored school house with
modern touches, most notably the
staircase and lift surrounded by glass,
photo right. This makes the tension
very obvious and easy to see whereas
sometimes its not quite so noticeable.
In the photographs we try to show how
this looks in various spaces and also
how it perhaps effects the atmosphere
of the city, does it create a sense of
tension and that of a contrasted city or
does it show Birmingham’s
determination to be a progressive
and innovative city and its struggle
to achieve this? Many of the modern
approaches have a feel that they are
progressive, with intelligent ways of
looking at architecture and at design
for spaces. The new library is a prime
example of this, once completed it will
feature a vast archive of various media
from photography, print to literature
and music. There is currently a ‘virtual’
library that is accessible to view the
interior of the library and you can go to
virtual book readings, that
determination shines through in their
openness to new technology. This is
also shown in the architecture, the
exterior facade echoes the technological
advances that helped create the
industrial growth in Birmingham as
well stating the library’s
willingness to adopt new technology.
Birmingham is a city that embraces
change and this is visible in the
architecture. Some of the various
revitalisation projects happening in

The architecture of
Birmingham is constantly
changing which creates a
very dynamic visual to the
city. The older buildings
contrast greatly to the new
and modern, sometimes this
is subtle but other times it is
very overt. This creates a
tension between the
elements as well as an
interesting cityscape.
by James Dexter

Birmingham are the new library, the
REP theatre and a new building to
house BIAD, all to be completed in the
next three to four years. It is also a city
with a rich heritage which can be seen
in the restoration projects of old buildings that have been undertaken over
the years, most notably St Martin’s in
the Bullring. £1.9 million was spent in
order to restore the church as part of the
project to build the Bullring. This is a
very visual strong element that is an integral part of the Bullring and is almost
symbolic that Birmingham doesn’t hide
its heritage but is prepared to welcome
what the future holds.

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1960’s bull ring
32,500 m2

selfridges
23,000 m2

15,460 tonnes
structural steel = 2 eiffel

13 mixers pour 216,000
tonnes of concrete

15,000 aluminum discs on the Selfridges building
Modes of transport to visit Bullring

28%

32%

average spent per person

£5
£10
£20
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about the
bullring
There are many iconic buildings in the
Birmingham landscape, but none have
the sense of distinction of the
Selfridges building. Its
uncompromising appearance creates a
clash with the surrounding
buildings, such as the modernist
Rotunda building and the victorian
gothic St Martin’s Church, creating
a confusing jumble of architectural
styles that some find exciting and
inspiring, whereas others find an
eyesore. The store was designed by
Future systems and was influenced by
the French designer Paco Rabanne’s
chainmail dresses. The
outer structure has 15,000 metallic
disks, which catch the sun and shows
Selfridges ‘commitment to all that is
new and innovative’.
On its opening day it saw 276,600
people come through its doors and in
2004 it had a mind boggling 36.5
million visitors making it the
busiest shopping centre in the UK.
This is understandable as it is one
of only four places that house a
Selfridge’s department store. It also
has the fourth largest Debenhams. Its
innovative design has given it a timeless look that fits Birmingham’s
ever developing skyline and one that
will see it being as iconic and exciting
in twenty years as it is now.

commitme
new and in
by Peter Coleman

ent to all that is
nnovative

J.R.R.
Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born
in Free State Province, South Africa,
1892. Later on, when he was 3, the
family moved to England. What would
have been a short visit turned into a
permanent stay in the country because
of his father’s sudden death.
Tolkien’s mother, Mabel took him
and his younger brother, Hilary to her
parents in Birmingham. Soon after they
moved to Sarehole. While living there
for 4 years he spent many hours playing
around local settings such as Sarehole
Mill and Moseley Bog.
Tolkien used these places as
inspiration for Hobbition and The Shire
in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Nearby attractions like the Clent,
Lickey and Malvers Hills also inspired
many scenes in his books. Tolkien’s
mother taught the two boys when they
were younger. Tolkien loved to draw
landscapes and he was very interested
in languages, by the age of 4 he could
read and write fluently. Some of his
favourites were stories about Red
Indians, fantasy works by George MacDonald (known for his fairy tales and
fantasy novels) and the Fairy Books
of Andrew Lang. He disliked a lot of
books as well, for example he thought
that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(by Lewis Carroll) was “amusing but
disturbing”. Tolkien’s mother died
when he was 4, after that he and his
brother lived in various places mainly
around Edgbaston. In 1908 they moved
to 37 Duchess Road with Father Francis
Xavier Morgan, a priest of the
Oratory, since this was their mother’s
wish. During this time they lived very
close to Perrott’s Folly and the Edgbaston Waterworks which are said to have
inspired the images of the Two Towers
in his books. Tolkien went to King
Edward’s School in Birmingham, he
really enjoyed learning there and
participated in all kinds of activities
organized by the School Club.
Tolkien and three of his friends formed
a semi-secret society called T.C.B.S. –
Tea Club Barrovian Society. They had
meetings where they would secretly

J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy
books made him one of
the most well known and
successful writers of the
20th century and it is
said that buildings in Birmingham were the inspiration for some places in
his books.
by Nikolett Schiszler
drink tea in the library,
although later on they moved to the
cafe over Barrow’s Stores in
Corporation Street. They would
discuss language, literature,
mythology as well as art, music and
current affairs. They became very close
friends and kept in contact for many
years after leaving school. When he
was 16 he fell in love with Edith Mary
Bratt, his future wife. Tolkien’s
guardian, Father Francis didn’t like
them being together, he believed that
Edith was distracting Tolkien from his
school work. He forbade him to see
her or even talk to her until Tolkien
turned 21. On his 21st birthday Tolkien
asked Edith to marry him in a letter,
her answer was yes and they finally got
married in 1916. Since Birmingham is
the place where he grew up, it played
a very important part of his life. There
are number of parks and walkways in
Hall Green and Moseley areas
dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien. Although
he was an author of academic work on
Anglo-Saxon and Middle English, it
is for his novels that Tolkien is best
known, The Hobbit (1937) and the
trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1954/55)
are the best selling fiction books of the
20th century.

concrete
depress
After being labelled the “concrete jungle” by many, it’s not surprising why
Birmingham City Council brought in
plans of redevelopment. With 1970’s
architecture still remaining in parts of
the city, it becomes clear why people
of Birmingham would prefer a more
modern look. Architecture can give an
environment certain connotations, and
project the nature of a place. This
brutalist look of concrete which still
exists in certain parts of the city could
reflect badly and reduce tourism. It
makes a place look dull and
depressing, and can affect how people
feel in these environments. When you
compare The Pallasades and other old
fashioned shopping centres against the
more modern centres such as The
Bullring and The Mailbox, a clear
divide can be seen. People feel
welcome, and the areas seem more
open with the use of glass construction
and other modern features. Concrete
can give areas a claustrophobic feel,
and seem like monstrosities taking over
cities. The density of the
building, with lack of windows and
visual space makes the buildings look
dull and bleak. More recent buildings
tend to break up the aesthetics with a
use of colour or different materials such
as glass or metal. The 1964 Bull Ring
Centre was criticised for its
aggressive concrete finish, and was
replaced with a much more favoured
and modern design. As a part of
Birmingham’s redevelopment plans, the
Pallasades shopping centre is set to be
redesigned alongside its neighbouring
New Street Station. Diminishing the
eyesore concrete grey style, and being
replaced by an “avant-garde” style
exterior to compliment its
surrounding buildings. Similarly, the
old Birmingham Central Library, with
its exterior much to be desired for, is set
to be accompanied by a new Library of
Birmingham. Again, a clear difference
in architectural design can be seen, and
the concrete slabs have been replaced
with glass, metal, colour and lighting.

The concrete jungle is
slowly being replaced
by new modern
architecture but the
buildings are still
visible, contributing to
the visual aesthetic of
the city in an arguably
negative way.
by Sadie Rose May

The original central library has been
heavily criticised as an eye sore, and
was even commented on by Prince
Charles as “looking more like a place
for burning books, than keeping them”.
Prince Charles has also commented on
other buildings, and has been a heavy
critic of brutalist architecture, calling
them “piles of concrete”. The brutalist
movement has been largely replaced
with structural expressionism and
de-constructivism. Another criticism
of the material would be that it doesn’t
age well, especially in damp climates.
The buildings will become stained due
to rain and other climate effects, and
can attract moss. This creates a decayed
look, and can decrease the aesthetic
appeal of the buildings.

sion

new
library

responses to the

We asked the people
of Birmingham to give
us a few words on their
thoughts on what they
thought of the new library,
whether they thought it
was a good idea or not
and their opinions on the
design.

I just got in town today!

They are throwing it up so fast, I
mean, how long’s it going to last.
The old one was only built in the
70’s.

Yeah...I like it.

As long as the lifts work.
I haven’t really used the old one
but it looks good.

Why are they
Don’t do nothing for me, I’ve
been using the old one for years.
It’s the content that counts, not
the looks.
We’re not from here, so I dunno what
you’re on about.

Yeah, I’ve just come from the old one!
I like new things and Birmingham’s
progressiveness and to do new things,
but the name for fucks sake ‘the library
of Birmingham’ I mean, really?

Loud and proud.

Good development, interesting to see it and
know what it looks like when it’s finished. It’s
cool.
It’s very big, sort of impressive, it’s
going to dominate.

Hideous, over engineered and useless
because books will be obsolete because
It’s taking so long and takes up too much space
of the internet soon.
from centanry square.

building it?

Better than the old one.

Bigger than expected, half my friends like it
half of them don’t I still haven’t decided.

It’s an eye sore.
It’s very odd looking, but thats probably a
good thing. I still haven’t decided if I like it
or not.

Not as bad as I thought It’d be. I thought the
iron mesh would go all the way to the top.
The world’s supposed to end in 2012, so its
It’s better than the old one.
a bit pointless, we won’t even get to use it.
It isn’t really there yet, but it looks good
as I see it going up, the colour breaks
it up although initially I thought it
looked like barbwire. Looking forward
to it, going to have lots of IT.
It looks outstanding. There you are. That’s three